Eli rolled over in bed, struggling to get comfortable. When had he got so old? It hadn’t been this hard to get to sleep when he was younger. It seemed like only yesterday that he was training as a priest, but many decades had passed and much had happened since those days.

As he adjusted his position to ease the pressure on his aching back, Eli’s thoughts turned to his sons, who were also priests. Hophi and Phineas had long since taken over most of his duties here at the temple in Shiloh.

Eli’s ears pricked up as a noise broke the silence of the temple. His eyesight may have faded with age but his hearing was still good and he could hear the soft padding of bare feet on stone approaching his room.

“Eli?” the voice of a young boy spoke from the doorway. “Did you call for me?”

“I didn’t call you Samuel” replied Eli. “Go back to bed my son.”

The sound of footsteps receded and silence returned.

Samuel. He was the son he wished he’d had. He had tried his best with his own boys, but they had grown into unruly men with minds of their own and no care for their ageing father. He knew they didn’t perform their duties properly and were interested only in their own gain. He had heard rumours of far worse… but he prayed that they weren’t true.

“Eli?”

Samuel was back again.

“I didn’t call you. Go back to bed my son.”

As Samuel returned to his room Eli wondered why the boy kept thinking he was calling for him. It hadn’t happened before. Perhaps someone was calling out, but no one else could be in the temple at this hour.

Unless… but no, it couldn’t be that. The Lord rarely spoke to men anymore. The last time Eli had heard of the Lord speaking directly to a man had been when the prophet had come to him and rebuked him about his wicked sons. Remembering that day filled Eli with dread and he hastily put it from his mind, along with the thought that Samuel was hearing from the Lord. What could the God of Heaven and Earth possibly want with a ten year old boy?

Eli had finally drifted off to sleep when he was woken again by Samuel, calling his name and shaking him gently by the shoulder.

“Eli, Eli, what do you need me to do?”

Now Eli knew that it must be the Lord.

“Go back to your bed and lie down Samuel” he replied. “If the voice calls again simply answer “Speak Lord, your servant is listening””.

Samuel hurried back to his bed as Eli lay back in his, now fully awake. There was no way he would be able to sleep now, his mind was abuzz with questions.

What did it mean? Who was this boy, Samuel, and what kind of man was he to grow into? Most importantly, what would The Lord say to him tonight?